“I could have changed Adam Lallana and gone with two strikers. But in my opinion, and only my opinion counts, it didn’t make sense so that’s it."

Sturridge acknowledged Klopp as he left the field in the 72nd minute, the longest he has lasted in a Premier League fixture since recovering from a hamstring injury in mid-February.

“I saw that he was not happy because I’m not blind. But that’s not a problem because if he came off and (celebrated) something would be really wrong.

“You cannot play football with this confidence when you are like we are. You have to think ‘yes, I’m the best’. I like this – as long as he doesn’t come off the pitch and do something really strange like kicking me from behind.”